Originally posted by thefreepatriot
reply to post by MarktheSkepticUK
Your still thinking like an average human.... Do you realize that there is evidence of "them" being here thousands of years? Do you also realize
that traveling vasts distances between star systems is easy? by triangulating 3 gravity waveguides to the target they can compress space and time..
And not have to move one inch to get to thousands of light years away...
Though your comment has a lot of merit, you have to consider that there is substantial evidence that there are no other Type II or Type III
civilizations in our Galaxy.
So while the 'method' you propose is probably valid, 'getting there' is the major problem.
There might be millions of sentient civilizations in our Galaxy. But becoming 'space-faring' is a very steep curve.
Think of the 'space-faring' version of the Drake Equation.
Among the terms are probably things like not having too big a home planet (gravity is too high to escape), having metals in the crust, i.e. close
enough to the surface to mine, not being too large a being (again gravity and energy).
It might also include having a large moon, having geothermal energy and having an active process on the home planet to support renewal (plate
tectonics and deep ocean currents).
Without those processes, a bio-planet may use up and pollute itself in too short a time to evolve the sentient life.
Finally, you have to take into account Gamma Ray Bursts and Asteroids.
IOW, if the sentient civilization doesn't prepare for an extinction event then it risks a lot. Thus their main goal will be to colonize at least 2-3
nearby planets before ever venturing far. Even a Type III civilization would be vulnerable to a GRB, so they would have to develop a 'far colony'
and both types would have to be able to repro their evolution and development from scratch.
It's not just enough for us to have a colony on Mars. If the Earth is destroyed, that colony will not have our capabilities or resources so they
wouldn't get off planet again and thus wouldn't last.
Now, given that this curve is so steep, it makes it unlikely that ET has visited us. It may be that the phenomenon we are experiencing as 'Alien
Contact' may be something else and not be based on our same reality or it might have nothing to do with traveling vast distances and propulsion or
warping space-time.
Just a thought.
[edit on 2-5-2008 by Badge01]
